The Dawn of the Shadow
by Allyal77
Summary: Lamont Cranston has somehow ended up in the x men universe. How will he cope with being thrown into the bitter struggle between the x-men and brotherhood. Will he ever get home?
1. Chapter 1

Darkness. Darkness and the bitter cold were the first things to become apparent to the man laying on a bed of pine needles on the outskirts of Westchester, New York. As all the other senses came back slowly, the man (who for now we shall call John) drew a shaky cold breath in as he waited for the world to stop spinning. After a few minutes John staggered to his feet and began to take in his surroundings. He was in a small clearing of a very thick forest. However, to the right John could make out bright lights from a distant city.

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember was walking to go meet Moe" he thought. With a small smile John shook his head and muttered "so much for being on time today. Although its not like Uncle Wagonwright will be worried." With that John set off towards the light. After a few minutes John finally broke through the forest into the city. As John continued to walk along he noticed a welcome to Westchester sign. "What? Westchester? I know I've woken up in some strange places before, but never in a different city. This is ridiculous." John frowned as the oddity of the situation began to dawn on him. If someone had been looking at John at that moment they would have noticed a dark assembly of shadows converge around John, as if the night itself had at that moment wrapped itself around John like a blanket, pushing away any light which had previously made John visible. That person looking might have thought they were mistaken, because as quickly as this occurred, John returned to normal just as quickly.

The next morning John woke up with a small groan. He had fallen asleep under a tree in the park as soon as he realized something fantastic had occurred last night. After stumbling upon several funny looking cars and some oddly dressed people, he had decided the best thing to do was call it a night and try to find a phone to call Moe in the morning. Unfortunatly during the course of whatever had happened to him, John had somehow lost his wallet. Thus, the prestige accommodations which he now found himself sharing with a squirrel had been acquired. He slowly got up with great difficulty. His knees ached with the lingering grasp of the cold night.

Now John was a tall man. He had a sort of dark visage about him, which was what kept any opportune thieves from disturbing him. As his blue calculating eyes surveyed his surrounding, the lines of confusion only deepened around his eyes and mouth as the latter became a frown. "Well I guess that way is a good place to start. First things first I need to find a phone and then I can worry about finding food later." With that thought he began to walk along the sidewalk that separated the park and the city that he now found himself in. He stiffened as a roaring machine whizzed by his tall form and left a smoky haze in its wake. The man thought, "my God that thing almost killed me. The drivers here are worse than Moe," which was saying something as Moe was a cabbie that made race car drivers look like student drivers on the their first day behind the wheel. As John continued to wander along the edges of the park he absentmindedly twisted a large opal ring that sat prominently on his middle finger. To the casual observer it would seem very out of place. In that the John was dressed in a long black cloak, with a well-fitting black suit adorning his tall figure. On his head, the John wore a black fedora which partially hid his striking blue gaze. In contrast to the dark attire of its owner, the opal ring was brightly colored; a deep red-orange color which is best described as the orange of a sunset, right as the day has finally begun to yawn its last yawn, and the night is itching to take over.

As John continued to ponder his strange surroundings, he was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of a high-pitched scream. John leapt into action as if on instinct and began to run towards the terrified cry. As he rounded the corner of a tall shabby convenience store, he saw a little boy being chased by a large rabid dog. The dog had a kind of wild look to it and seemed mad in its pursuit of the small child. In its madness, the dog ran into a pole, but the pain did not seem to register as its snapping jaws began to close in on the frightened child. It was at that moment that John's blue eyes seemed to become lost as a black inky color drowned out the formerly clear blue eyes. With this change a loud reverberating laugh began to echo off of the walls of the alley the child had run into. The child froze as he heard the deep laughter surrounding him. He frightenedly asked, "whose there?" As he began to shake from the fear of the dog chasing him and the possible new arrival of more trouble. The mad laughter only got louder with the question of the small child. The laughter seemed to snap the dog out of its madness, but only for a second. However, that second was enough for the man to barrel out of the shadows and grab the small child out of the reach of the crazed animal. As the man grabbed the child, he spoke in a deep and soothing voice to the child: "don't be afraid the shadow will protect you." The man then melted into the shadows with the child. Leaving the dog seemingly alone in the alley. With the disappearance of the man and the child, the dog suddenly snapped once more out of its former crazed madness as it looked around its surroundings and then wandered off.

Elsewhere, a lone figure watching from a nearby roof top growled in frustration. He almost had the child. That child that was the key to his masters plans to further the mutant agenda. As he contemplated the failure of his first mission, he realized using that dog had been a mistake. He should have used a person, but he was still getting the hang of his powers and he didn't want to risk exposing himself. "This wasn't a complete failure", he thought. "Magneto will be interested to learn about this strange new mutant that screwed up my mission." And with that the man ran off to report this interesting development to his new master.

Elsewhere, Charles Xavier was searching the new area for mutants as had become his habit as of late. He knew Magneto was up to something, and that his new plan required a mutant that had been evading both his X-Men and the Brotherhood for weeks now. However, it was at that moment that the child had been saved from the dog by the dark eyed man. Charles gasped in surprise and fear with the arrival of this strange mutant. The man who saved the child carried a dark presence around him, which translated to the powerful telepath and made him shudder. He immediately sent a mental message to his students, Scott and Jean. "Scott, Jean I need you to ready the team and the blackbird immediately."

Jean sensed the urgency in the professor's voice and worriedly asked "what is it professor?"

"It seems a powerful new mutant has emerged, and it is vital that we find him before Magneto does. I sense a great and growing darkness within this person and if we don't hurry, I fear the darkness will consume him and set him down a path that will undo all of the work we have put into keeping mutants a secret."

"Understood professor, we'll have the team ready in ten," Jean and Scott mentally answered.

Back in another alley away from prying eyes, the man and child materialized out of the darkness. The man gently set the child down, fixed his cloak, and began to regard the child with a quizzical look. There was something off about this child, but any further musings on the subject were interrupted as a small voice squeaked "who are you?" As the child stared wide eyed into the inky black eyes of his rescuer, the man smiled. However, the young mutant did not see this as the man's mouth was covered by a red bandana. No longer was the man dressed in a simple suit. His suit was now obscured by a back-trench coat which seemed to ooze the darkness of the night. Additionally, his face was darkened by the shadows cast from his now wide brimmed black hat. The man regarded the child and replied with a deep rumbling voice that caused any hardened criminal to shudder in fear, "I am the Shadow." With this he gave another hearty laugh which reverberated around the alley. This unsettled the child, but as he could see this man had saved him he reasoned he meant him no harm despite the little hairs on the back of his neck telling him otherwise.

"Thank you for saving me ah Mr. Shadow, but I think I will be on my way now" the child croaked as he began to back away. However, at that moment the Shadow grasped his head and doubled over in pain. As he continued to grasp his head, now on his knees, the dark visage slowly left him and as he looked up into the scared face of the child his eyes became a piercing blue once more. His last worry of revealing his identity to the child was snuffed out by the pain which overcame his senses and plunged his consciousness into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ugghh not again." John groaned as he tried to sit up. He promptly fell back down onto the soft bed he now found himself in. His head felt like someone was taking a jackhammer to it. Although, the stabbing pains were beginning to recede slowly. As he opened his eyes he realized he must be in a hospital. He was in a small room furnished with a single chair. He was now dressed in a hospital gown. As he looked around the room he noticed his clothes had been neatly folded and placed off to the side on a chair. "ughhh my head" he groaned. At that moment a young nurse walked in and smiled as she said "Oh good you're awake. I'll alert the doctor, but before I do that let me ask you a few questions ok?"

John simply smiled and nodded his understanding. "Let's start with an easy one. Whats your name?" the nurse asked gently. John started to answer but then stopped midsentence. "It's aaa L-". His face became blank as he racked his brain for the simple answer to such a simple question. What was his name? Concern washed away the nurse's smile as she asked "are you ok?"

"I don't know my name. I can't remember. As a matter of fact I can't remember anything." Deep worry and a little bit of panic overtook the normally cool look that John carried. He roughly brushed his hand through his thick dark hair as the nurse moved to call the doctor on her pager. The nurse then grabbed John's hand and reassuringly said "don't worry the doctor will be here soon and then we will help you figure everything out ok." Another nurse walked in and glanced over at John quickly before whispering something in the nurse's ear. John asked "is everything ok. What's going on?"

"Nothing everything will be alright. We'll be right back." The nurse replied with a forced smile as she followed the other nurse out of the room quickly. Well that was odd, John thought as a cold feeling gripped his stomach. The nurse's change in behavior was puzzling and suddenly gave him a desire to leave. Looking out of the small window on his door, John saw the nurse frantically pointing at his door as she spoke to a couple of police officers. Well I guess that's my cue to leave, he thought as John jumped out of bed and locked the door. He then quickly got dressed and barricaded the door with the chair. The officers began to pound on the door as they tried to open it and then force it to open to no avail. "Open up mutie" they barked. Mutie? What do they mean by that, John wondered as he scrambled to find another way out of the room, but his room was situated on the fifth floor of the hospital so the window wasn't an option.

It's funny how the mind can choose the most inconvenient times to remember unrelated and unhelpful information. Which is precisely what was happening to John, except his mind chose this moment to remind him of something he would have been happy to never remember again as he got a flash of a long-buried memory.

_A group of villagers were cowering along the side of a dusty road as John walked by in the front of a procession. The fields beyond the villagers were streaked with red from the unnecessary and cruelly spilled blood from the battle that day. Hundreds of dead and dying people were scattered behind the remaining people of what had previously been a prosperous and quiet village. Although the village was now quiet for a very different reason as the remaining villagers quietly mourned their dead as the man responsible marched forward to finish off the remaining leaders of the village. As John walked he suddenly felt something wet hit his face. He quickly turned to the cowering villagers to find the offending fool who would dare to cross him. An elderly man looked back at him calmly and determined from among the crowd. John looked at the foolish man with a sneer. "Look at what we have here boys," he turned to his men as they all began to laugh. "It looks like this old timer has volunteered." He looked at the foolish old man and smiled with a malicious grin that can only be described as one that would be expected on a hungry and vicious wolf just before its about to devour its prey. "Congratulations you will have the honor of teaching these good people a final lesson." His booming voice carried outwards to the cowering villagers "this is what happens when you cross the Butcher of Lhasa." As he hauled the old man up with practiced ease the old man maintained a serene expression as he uttered his final words, "there have been many monsters who have come to terrorize those who simply want to live in peace over the years. All have met their deserved fate and you will certainly be no exception."_

John's heart started to race. That couldn't be him. Although he had no memory of himself he felt fear and disgust towards the man who had committed those heinous acts in his memory. For surely that couldn't be him. This other man (for that's what Joh had decided to call him) with his cruel demeanor felt like the very definition of evil, which regardless of his current predicament, John felt could not be him. Maybe it had been some long forgotten twisted nightmare, but it had felt so real. The police officers pounding woke John up from the glazed stupor his recalled memory had caused him. John decided to push the memory aside and focus on getting himself out of this hospital. Unbeknownst to John his eyes began to darken with inky black swirls, until his eyes were once more like the night itself. John rushed over to the window, but hastily walked back as he realized hazarding a jump was out of the question. It was at this moment that the lights in the hall had begun to flicker until they were snuffed out. The officers began to panic as the hall became bereft of all light, which is a truly terrifying thing for anyone who has experienced true darkness. The officers began to panic and shot the door in an attempt to stop this mutant from what they believed was soon to be their death. As suddenly as the light had gone, it suddenly returned as the door finally gave way and the officers fell into an empty room.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long delay. I was having a severe case of writers block, and then I was unhappy with the first couple of chapters. So I added some more to them and tweaked them a bit. So you should go back and reread them if this isn't your first time through. Hopefully, I will have the next chapter up within the next month or so. Thank you all for the comments, I really appreciate them as this is my first fanfic. And now let's get back to the story!

The professor sat deep in thought at the front of the blackbird. He was troubled by the arrival of this new mutant and what it could mean for Magneto's plans. In that moment that he sensed the mutant, he had sensed a large dark presence that seemed to almost overpower the presence of the man. Yet the man seemed to be in control of the darkness, if only for that moment. He also sensed a great deal of confusion and disorientation from the man. Yes, it was true that he had left to find the mutant with such urgency because of Magneto, but he also felt a great need to help this man if he needed it; and from what he sensed from the man, he seemed like he needed someone he could trust. The professor was broken from his musings as the blackbird jolted to avoid being hit by a flash of lightening. The plane continued to shake from the storm they now found themselves in.

"Is everything alright Storm?"

"This isn't me Professor. I'm trying to calm the weather but there is something blocking me," Storm tensely replied.

"Professor! I can feel something coming closer. So much fear, anger…I feel so cold. Make it stop!" Jean cried.

Scott who had been sitting next to Jean, held her tight as he tried to reassure her. "Professor—" he was cut off as all power in the blackbird went out and a smoky haze filled the blackbird. The smoky haze briefly solidified into a dark shadow of a man. The man screamed at some unknown person "Noooooo. Get away from me!" At that moment the plane began to fall. The professor placed both hands on his temples as he telepathically tried to calm the man down.

"Its alright. We won't hurt you. You're among friends."

The man turned towards the Professor before screaming one last time. Then he vanished. At the moment the power was restored and Storm quickly brought the Blackbird back to a safe altitude. Jean, now calm gasped "he's gone." The question on everyone's mind then was "where did he go?"

Elsewhere a black haze began to form a couple of miles away from the Xavier Institute. That haze swirled around and around until John materialized from the black haze and collapsed unceremoniously.

"This is beginning to become a troubling pattern." John groaned as he rubbed his head and slowly sat up.

He looked around and started to take in his surroundings; automatically taking in all the weak points of the hill he now found himself on and cataloging the best escape routes. He did this effortlessly and efficiently, like an experienced warrior ready to defend himself or escape at a moment's notice. John, however, didn't really take note of this unusual skill or if he did he didn't think about it too much. He had more pressing matters at the moment to deal with, like finding a change of clothes and figuring out what was going on. He noted from his quick scan that there was a mansion that didn't look like it was too far away. With no other signs of society in sight, John decided that was his best option. So after a couple of false starts, he managed to finally get up and stay up, and begin to walk towards the mansion. It was cold so he shivered slightly as he began the long trek to the mansion, since all he was wearing was a hospital gown, but John was too absorbed in his thoughts to pay his discomfort and aching muscles much attention.

"How did I end up here? One minute I was trying to get away from those officers, and the next thing I know I was here." John furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. "But that's not right because I was somewhere else for a moment." John briefly closed his eyes as he tried to remember what had happened. In between all of the chaos there had been other people that weren't there before. Then a man had begun to talk to him. He was sure of that, but he couldn't quite remember what the man was saying. All he remembered was the calm feeling the man's voice gave him before he fell into unconsciousness. It also felt like the man's voice was in his head. Was he going crazy? That seemed to be the only rational explanation. But that really didn't make any sense, how could he have gotten from the hospital to where he was now? If he really was losing it, he would still be at the hospital; he wouldn't be walking in a hospital gown in the middle of some field. So if he wasn't crazy, how did he get here and what did the man have to do with all of it? The more he remembered, the more questions he had. Truth be told none of that frightened him as much as that memory of himself, that Butcher of Lhasa. The Butcher's cold laugh rung in John's ears, as he wrapped his arms around himself tightly as he shivered again, but this time it wasn't from the cold.


End file.
